Marcus Füreder (born November 27, 1974), better known by his stage name Parov Stelar, is an Austrian musician and DJ. He performs with his band, the Parov Stelar Band, as well as a DJ worldwide. Parov Stelar is the head of Etage Noir Recordings.

Biography

After gaining experience as a DJ at nightclubs during the mid-late 1990s, Parov Stelar got involved in producing and publishing in 2000.

After early works under the pseudonym Plasma and his real name, and also being a partner of the label Bushido Recordings, in 2004 he started producing under the pseudonym Parov Stelar. In the same year he founded his own label: Etage Noir Recordings.

His first release, for Etage Noir, the EP KissKiss and the soon after-released LP Rough Cuts, provided him immediate breakthrough on the international electronic music scene. His specific approach to music production, combined with a proven sense of sound aesthetics, led to massive reaction of audience and colleagues all around the world, giving him reputation as the founder of a new genre: electro swing.

Parov Stelar's tracks have been used on more than 700 compilations (for example: Hôtel Costes, Buddha Bar and Electro Swing) and have been used in soundtracks for numerous TV ads, TV shows, TV series and movies.

In 2012, an excerpt from his song "Chambermaid Swing" was used in a well-known Bacardi commercial.

Also in 2012, his retro-song "Booty Swing", sampled heavily from Lil Hardin Armstrong's "Oriental Swing", was featured in the US television advertising campaign entitled "Just the Right Amount of Wrong" for the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. In 2013, "Booty Swing" was featured in a controversial commercial for Chevrolet. Although Bloomberg used the term "racist" when referring to the song as used in the Chevrolet ad, it did not cite the actual title for Armstrong's original or Stelar's version, or give credit to either artist.

The Parov Stelar Band

After starting as a solo artist and gaining initial success, in 2005 Parov Stelar began to perform live sets with a full band. This collaboration with four – later five – musicians and a vocalist noticeably influenced his work.[citation needed]

Current members of the Parov Stelar Band

Parov Stelar aka Marcus Fuereder – programming

Cleo Panther aka Daniela Hrenek – vocals

Max the Sax aka Markus Ecklmayr – saxophone

Jerry Di Monza aka Gerd Rahstorfer – trumpet

Jakob Mayr – trombone

Willie Larsson Jr. aka Hans-Juergen Bart – drums

Michael Wittner – bass

Bozo Bozanski aka Blaz Bozic – triangle

Former members of the Parov Stelar Band

Beate Baumgartner – vocals

Gianna Charles – vocals

Stefan Hölzl – bass

Eva Klampfer – vocals

Andi Lettner – drums

Wolf Myer – drums

DJ sets

Parov Stelar's DJ sets include live performances by his band members Markus Ecklmayr (saxophone) and Gerd Rahstorfer (trumpet).